The day after Christmas 1934, Los Angeles merchants furiously chewed their holiday cigars as they read their morning papers. A quarter of a million dollars had been poured into pari-mutuel betting machines at the opening of the nearby Santa Anita racetrack the day beforeĀthe first appearance of horseracing in Los Angeles County in 25 years. That was the beginning of the merchants' woes. For 50-odd days each winter for four succeeding winters, a half million of hard-earned Los Angeles dollars were wagered every day on horse races. The more the merchants tried to...
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